Department for Work and Pensions

Agenda of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) 15th March 2019, Brussels

baroness buscombe: My honourable Friend, The Minister of State for Employment (Alok Sharma MP) has made the following Written Statement.The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will take place on 15th March 2019 in Brussels. I plan to represent the UK.The Council will be invited to agree a partial General Approach on a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council that continues the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).Under the European Semester agenda item, the Council will adopt the Joint Employment Report for 2019, along with conclusions on the 2019 Annual Growth Survey, and the Commission will present its Country Reports for 2019. The Romanian Presidency has chosen the social dimension of Europe post 2020 as the theme for debate.Under other business, the Presidency will give updates on six current legislative proposals: a Regulation establishing a European Labour Authority; Revision of the Regulations on the coordination of social security systems; Revision of the Directive on carcinogens and mutagens (third batch); and Directives on work-life balance, on accessibility requirements for products and services and on transparent and predictable working conditions. The Presidency will also provide information on its recent conference on an EU Framework on National Strategies for Roma Inclusion. The Commission will present information on the Tripartite Social Summit which will take place on 20th March, and the Chairs of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee will present the committees’ Work Programmes for 2019.


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Universal Credit

baroness buscombe: My Right Honourable Friend, The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (The Rt. Hon. Amber Rudd MP) has made the following Written Statement.Universal Credit is a vital reform. It overhauls a legacy system which trapped people out of work. The next stage, managed migration will move claimants of legacy benefits on to Universal Credit without a change of circumstances. As we have previously committed, the Department will pilot this approach, following the passing of an affirmative Statutory Instrument, from July 2019; starting with small numbers with no more than 10,000 claimants. This is expected to take around 12 months. We will report on our findings to Parliament and bring forward legislation for the wider roll out of managed migration. We will, as planned, complete full roll out of Universal Credit by the end of 2023.I am updating Parliament to announce that we have selected Harrogate in North Yorkshire to be our initial site for the managed migration pilot.Harrogate has a mix of benefit claimants with a varying range of needs, in both rural and urban areas. Harrogate has also had Universal Credit since 2016 which is earlier than many other places. In that respect it does very much reflect the situation we will face across the country as we begin the broader process of moving people from the old system to the new Universal Credit system. This means the lessons we learn here will be directly applicable to places that start moving claimants from the old system to the new system in 2020 and beyond who will have started with UC in 2017 and 2018.We will take a careful approach to delivering managed migration. Claimants will be informed of their move in advance, receive full information and support from the department to move, including through home visits where appropriate.We do not intend to stop anyone’s benefit during the pilot. In the pilot phase, our intention is to learn how to effectively assist people onto Universal Credit and to develop processes to deliver that help. This is particularly important for vulnerable and hard-to-reach claimants, who the department will help to move across to the new system.Managed migration will open up the world of work for thousands and deliver financial support for those whose circumstances have not changed. The process will eventually provide over £3 billion total transitional protection for 1.1 million families. Transitional protection will be available and we will help people who need it access discretionary payments which could be used, for example, to pay the equivalent of the two-week run on. Eligible claimants who received the Severe Disability Premium under the legacy system will receive transitional payments as a result of the regulations bringing them into effect.The department is working with stakeholders to develop our approach to managed migration, with support for the most vulnerable in at the forefront of our minds. We will continue to do this as we deliver.


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Treasury

ECOFIN : 12 March 2019

lord bates: My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Philip Hammond) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will be held in Brussels on 12 March 2019. The UK will be represented by Mark Bowman (Director General, International Finance, HM Treasury). The Council will discuss the following:Early Morning SessionThe Eurogroup President will brief the Council on the outcomes of the 11 March meeting of the Eurogroup, and the European Commission will provide an update on the current economic situation in the EU. Ministers will then discuss the location of the InvestEU Investment Committee Secretariat.Excise DutiesThe Council will be invited to agree a General Approach on the Directive on general arrangements for excise duty (recast), the Regulation on administrative cooperation of the content of electronic registers, and the Directive on the structures of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.Digital Services TaxThe Council will be invited to reach a political agreement on the EU-wide Digital Services Tax proposal.InvestEUThe Council will hold a follow up policy debate on the location of the InvestEU Investment Committee Secretariat.Current Financial Services Legislative ProposalsThe Romanian Presidency will provide an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.European SemesterFollowing a presentation by the Commission on its 2019 Country Reports, the Council will hold an exchange of views on the implementation of country-specific recommendations focussing on investment in Member States.EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax PurposesThe Council will be invited to adopt Council conclusions revising the December 2017 EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.Status of the Implementation of Financial Services LegislationThe Council will discuss the status of the implementation of financial services legislation.Coalition for Climate ActionThe Finnish Finance Minister will update the Council on plans to launch the Coalition for Climate Action in the context of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in April.


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Leader of the House of Lords

Exiting the European Union

baroness evans of bowes park: My Rt Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made the following statement to the House of Commons:This is a statement, for the purposes of section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, that political agreement has been reached. I am of the opinion that an agreement in principle has been reached in negotiations under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union on the substance of:the arrangements for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, andthe framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom after withdrawal.This agreement reflects the result of further discussions with the European Union subsequent to the debate in the House of Commons on the motion under s.13(6) and (11) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 on 29 January 2019. This statement therefore supersedes the statement of 26 November 2018 made in my name.A copy of the draft withdrawal agreement which, in my opinion, reflects the agreement in principle so far as relating to the arrangements for withdrawal, including provisions for the implementation period, has been laid before the House of Commons on Monday 11 March 2019 with the title ‘Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community’.Two additional documents relating to the withdrawal agreement which were not included in the documents laid before Parliament under section 13 on 26 November 2018, have also been laid as annexes to the statement that has been laid before the House of Commons on 11 March 2019. These are:A legally binding joint instrument relating to the draft withdrawal agreement, with the title, ‘Instrument relating to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community’; andA unilateral declaration by the United Kingdom in relation to the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, with the title, ‘Declaration by Her Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Northern Ireland Protocol’.At this stage, the withdrawal agreement represents a version of the text which has been agreed, but has not yet been formally signed. As set out in my statement of 26 November 2018, the withdrawal agreement laid before Parliament following political agreement being reached in November represented “a version of the text which has been agreed, but has not yet been formally signed. Before this formal signature takes place, the agreement must complete the European Union’s jurist-linguist translation process. During that time, minor technical corrections will be made to the text, though these changes will not affect the substance of the agreement”.In line with that, the text has since been subject to minor technical corrections for example to correct stylistic or grammatical errors. In addition, it has been put onto the EU’s standard template for international treaties as part of its publication in the EU’s Official Journal which has led to further formatting changes. The Government’s intention is to sign the agreement after it is approved by the House of Commons under section 13(1)(b). The laying of the Withdrawal Agreement before Parliament at this stage does not trigger any procedures under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.A copy of the framework for the future relationship which, in my opinion, reflects the agreement in principle so far as relating to the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom has been laid before the House of Commons on Monday 11 March 2019 with the title ‘Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom’.In addition, a further document which was not included in the documents laid before Parliament under section 13 on 26 November 2018, a supplement to the framework for the future relationship, with the title, ‘Joint statement supplementing the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ has also been laid as an annex to the statement that has been laid before the House of Commons on 11 March 2019.This statement, and the associated documents, will also be laid before the House of Lords on 12 March 2019.The documents associated with this statement are also available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/11-march-withdrawal-agreement-and-political-declaration-laid-before-parliament-following-political-agreement

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces' Pay Review Body Reappointment

earl howe: My right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence People and Veterans (The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.On 20 December 2018, I announced that the Secretary of State for Defence had appointed Vice Admiral (Retired) Sir David Steel as the next ex-military member of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB). His appointment was due to commence on 1 March 2019 and run until 28 February 2022. However, Vice Admiral (Retired) Sir David Steel has subsequently been unable to take up this position. A further recruitment campaign will be launched in due course by Department officials.To provide the AFRPB with important continuity during this interim period, I am pleased to announce that I have invited Rear Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Westbrook to continue to serve as a Member of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body for a further 12 month term of office, commencing on 1 March 2019, and he has accepted. This extension has been conducted in accordance with the guidance of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Department for Education

Sub-Lease to the New Model in Technology and Engineering (‘NMiTE’) Project

lord agnew of oulton: It is the normal practice when a government department proposes to make a gift of a value exceeding £300,000, for the department concerned to present to the House of Commons a minute giving particulars of the gift and explaining the circumstances; and to refrain from making the gift until fourteen parliamentary sitting days after the issue of the minute, except in cases of special urgency.The Department for Education intends to provide a 50-year lease of the former-Robert Owen Academy site (Blackfriars Street, Hereford) to the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE). The lease is valued at £900,000 and will be subject to a premium of only £1,000. The sub-lease therefore represents a gift to NMiTE worth £899,000.The New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) aims to secure university status and is supported by national and local government, the University of Warwick, and industry, to transform engineering education in Britain. They are in receipt of grant funding from the Department for Education to support their start-up and development. NMiTE will invest substantially in the site to bring it back into use and deliver specialist higher education.We believe this lease represents good-value, supporting the development of the new organisation aiming to secure university status and avoiding the vacant site holding costs that the Department for Education would otherwise have to bear.The Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If, during the period of fourteen parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which this minute was laid, a Member signifies an objection by giving notice of a Parliamentary Question or a Motion relating to the minute, or by otherwise raising the matter in the House, final approval of the gift will be withheld pending an examination of the objection.


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